Five Nights at Freddy's: The Hollow Eyes
by Kyle Remund
Summary: A fan made sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. Ted's job at Fazbear's Fright is simple enough. Boring, even. But when one of the old animatronics arrives, Ted is forced into a 30-year old conflict between a murderer and five dead children. William Afton is far from finished, and he intends to begin a new "creation," starting with Ted. It's me...
1. Prologue

**This is a fan-made sequel to Five Nights At Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. Although this story can be enjoyed without reading The Silver Eyes, the beginning will make a lot more sense to you if you have read it. If not, that's all right. I'll make sure that any important info from The Silver Eyes gets revealed as the story progresses.**

 **Prologue**

"If you want to be one of them, then _be_ one of them!"

The girl, Charlie, tripped the springlocks in Dave's suit, jerking her hands out. The locks snapped closed, tearing his neck open. He jerked back as she stepped away, tripping more of the locks. He screamed as the endoskeleton jerked into place, tearing through his body. He dropped to the ground writhing and screaming as one by one the springlocks released the animatronic machinery. Dave could feel his blood gushing out of his mangled body, his scream cut off as the last lock in his suit released, filling the torso of his suit and crushing his lungs against his right side. He writhed uncontrollably on the floor, catching a brief glimpse of the Fredbear suit staring at him, its two pinprick eyes seemed triumphant as it silently observed. Eventually, after an eternity of agony, everything faded into shadow.

Dave was dead.

Dave started, jerking his head up. He was sitting on a checkered floor, his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He looked around him, the room was decrepit, water dripping from the ceiling, mice scurrying across the floor. Party hats and paper plates, now covered in mold, were piled up next to an overturned table. An old banner lay strewn across the floor. It was no longer readable, mildew and moisture having taken their toll on it, but he knew what it said: "Happy Birthday from Freddy Fazbear!".

He was in Freddy's.

Dave slowly stood up. His Bonnie suit was gone, instead he was wearing his old Freddy's uniform. He looked down at the badge hanging on it, the polished brass shone in the gloom. A stark contrast to the dark purple fabric of his shirt. Dave looked up and around him one more time before looking back and reading the badge. It read 'Fazbear & Friends Official Security' at the top. The middle was Freddy's face, smiling. Beneath, it said 'Chief of Staff: William Afton'.

William, that was his name. His real name. His name when he built the restaurant with Henry, his name when he took the children, his name when he loved.

"It was you. It was you, wasn't it?" a voice behind him said.

William jumped, turning to face the speaker. It was a small, spectral child. His tiny form was a bright misty white. The only features visible on the boy were two empty black eyes and two lines of grey, extending from the bottoms of his eyes down to where his jaw should be. They looked almost like long tears, and as he watched, William saw tiny droplets form at the ends and drip down, vanishing before they hit the floor.

"You hurt us, you broke us." the creature asserted, stepping toward William. "They forgot, but I didn't."

"Who are you?" William asked, stepping back and looking around for some sort of weapon.

"Michael."

William froze, turning toward the small creature. "You're one of the children."

"No," Michael replied, "We are all the children."

Suddenly, five more figures like Michael appeared in the room, each a different height, but all bearing the same black eyes and long gray tears.

One of them, the smallest, stepped forward. He was different from the others, he seemed to glow in the shadows, casting light on the floor around him. He turned to Michael.

"Is this him?" the young boy asked, "Is this the grown up that took me, that broke _us_?"

William stepped back, towards the empty doorway as Michael turned toward the smaller child.

"Yes. _He_ did this to us. _He_ broke us. _He_ trapped us. _He_ ruined our perfect day." Michael turned toward William, pinpricks of light beginning to shine inside his hollow eyes. "He _KILLED US_!"

The other children snapped their spectral heads toward William, now almost at the door. He shook his head defensively and pointed an accusing finger toward Michael.

"Now," William said, "remember who gave you your perfect day in the first place. Who took you here. Who has _loved_! Like Henry did." He looked around at the children, staring them each in their hollow eyes, one by one. "I have known the joy of creation in bringing each of you here."

"No." The smallest one looked down towards his feet. "No, not _us_."

"Yes, you. Us." William said. "I am one of you, we are family. We are one."

"No!" He shouted shaking his head. The tears on his jawline began to drop more profusely. "No we're not! _WE_ were one!" He looked up at William. "We were together. I was hers, she was mine, and you _broke us_!"

The little boy sobbed, bowing his head. "You broke us and we can't be one. We can't be one ever! Never, never, never, never, never!" His head snapped up, bright pupils shone in his black eyes and his tear streaks turned an angry, violent red. "I HATE you!" He screamed. The boy turned to the others. "Kill him!" he ordered, "Break him! Hurt him! Kill him!"

William took off through the doorway, racing through the hallway outside of Pirate's Cove; which, he now noticed, was the room he had been in. He ran through the dimly lit hallway into the main dining area. It was mostly empty now, the tables and chairs piled into a corner by the old horse ride. Boxes and puddles were strewn all across the checkered floor, illuminated by light coming from the stage. Standing, silently, on the brightly lit stage were three massive animatronics. A chicken, a rabbit, and a bear.

William's foot caught on a box and he tripped, cursing. Three of the children shot past him and onto the stage. The lights in the character's eyes flickered on, turning to fix their gaze on him.

William stood up. A silvery light rounded a corner behind him, turning to illuminate him from behind. William dropped to the ground just before Foxy lunged for him. The animatronic sailed over his head, letting out an inhuman scream before it crashed to the floor.

William jumped up, dashing to the hallway on the right side of the stage. The animatronics on stage began to thrash their legs as he ran past, ripping themselves free of their restraining bolts.

William ran through the doorway and stumbled to a stop. In front of him was a massive _thing_. A giant, pitch black creature with glowing white eyes and teeth stared at him, unblinking, from the other side of the room. It tilted its head, and its form distorted, fracturing and rearranging its parts like a glitching computer monitor.

The animatronics screamed behind him, their eyes illuminating the wall behind the figure, which, oddly, cast no shadow. Its form remained absolutely black, unaffected by the light. William broke the creature's gaze, turning left and running towards the saferoom.

It was there, just where it always had been. Fortunately, it no longer seemed to be bricked in. The entryway was, however, loosely boarded up with large gaps that he could possibly fit through. He reached the doorway, and Foxy rounded the corner behind him. His footsteps padding hard against the tile, his silver eyes cast a blinding light on the boarded doorway.

William squirmed to wriggle through the gap between the boards. Foxy sprinted straight for him and lunged as he slipped through. The fox slammed into the boards, cracking them as he hit. William scrambled away from the entryway, but Foxy didn't follow. The giant robotic animal stood just outside of the saferoom, searching with its searing eyes as if the doorway wasn't there. It reached tentatively toward where William had squeezed through the boards, but its hand stopped short, as if pushing against an invisible barrier.

William let out a sigh of relief. The animatronics couldn't see the saferoom, their programming ensured that. To them, it was just a smooth wall.

Foxy continued to search the doorway, sliding his hand over the invisible boundary between them. The other children stepped into the room, each inside their suit. They regarded Foxy briefly before turning away, walking back to the dining room. Foxy lingered by the doorway, as if waiting for it to change, before he turned and stalked down the hallway. William moved to stand up, but his hand slipped on a board, sending it skidding right under the boards in the doorway and out into the hall. Foxy froze mid step. The giant fox swung around and stared down the doorway, searching suspiciously with his silvery eyes before he slowly retreated back to the dining room.

William let out the breath he'd been holding and slowly, carefully, stood up. _Well,_ he thought, _what now?_ He stepped back, away from the doorway.

And right into a large, furry body.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One.

"Look, I really don't want to make this sale, John." The man said. He drummed his fingers on his desk, the paper under his hand sat just out of reach. Uncool.

"Ok, dude. First of all: my name is Jon, not John. There's no 'H' in my name." Jon Wilde leaned back in his seat. The man behind the desk looked at him quizzically. Yeesh. Jon leaned forward again.

"You can always tell, man, when someone means John instead of Jon." He explained, "It's the way they say it."

The man sighed, pulling the document that held Jon's dream even farther away from him. "You said first, is there a second?"

"Sha, dude. I have the money that your boss asked for it. In cash. Right here." Jon pulled out his envelope. $1,200, the most money that he had ever saved up in his life, sat inside. He'd saved for, like, two years to pull it all together. That was two years of his blood, sweat, and tears. Mostly tears, though, 'cause his job sucked.

Jon slapped the envelope down on the desk, pushing it towards the man, who gave it another one of those looks. Jeez, did this guy trust anything?

"Third, I already have a location. Do you know how hard it was to do that? One straight month of doing boring business and legal stuff, just so I could get the right place." He leaned in closer to the man, "You, of all people, should know how _boring_ that is." He whispered confidentially, tapping on the man's desk. The poor dude had a desk job. Who would ever want a desk job?

The man gave him a _very_ annoyed look, sliding the paper farther away. "I'm just saying that this could end badly for you." he stated, "Every time somebody has tried to start this franchise back up, something bad happens."

Jon slumped back in his chair. "Oh, don't tell me you believe in that ghost stuff, man." He pointed to his chest, "I do, but you don't, that's obvious."

The man sighed, composing himself (what a suck up), and gave Jon one of those 'I really mean what I'm saying' looks. "It's not ghosts," he said, "it's the reputation the place has. Ever since the disappearances all those years ago, Freddy's restaurants haven't lasted for any longer than a year after opening. Something always happens. Frankly, I think that Freddy's simply brings in the loons."

"That's why I'm here, dude!" Jon shouted, slapping his hands down on the table in frustration. This guy was seriously in need of a chill pill, what was his deal? "That rad restaurant brought in this loon, and he wants it! So don't be such a loser and let me buy it!"

The man let out a long sigh, like, a _really_ long sigh, and pushed the paper forward. "Sign here," he said, "try to be sensible."

Sensible? That sounded lame.

"Duuuuuuuuuuude!" Jon plucked a pen out of the cup on the man's desk and signed the paper. He put his envelope on top of the paper and pushed it back to the man at the desk. The man sighed _again_ and opened the envelope. He counted the bills inside and set it down, typing something long into his computer. He looked at Jon quizzically before pulling out another paper.

"This document signifies that you have-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Jon interrupted, "Just hand me the paper so I can get out of this boring room."

That earned him another one of those looks, - yeesh, this guy liked giving those - but he handed over the paper. Jon grabbed it and stood, a wide grin on his face.

"Finally!" He said, walking to the door, "Peace out, Donald."

"Derrick."

"Dustin." Jon walked out into the hallway, clutching the paper that gave him the rights to Freddy Fazbear's name.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

William waited. It would work, right? He'd spent how long preparing the shadow? Years? Probably. He was patient, he could work with that. Being stuck in a single room for so long, he'd gotten very good at waiting. He stared out of the now empty doorway. The boards that had once covered it were now scattered across the hallway outside. He didn't dare go out for them, not yet.

He'd met the shadow on his first night in the Perfect Day. The purple bear had been hiding inside the saferoom when he'd escaped from the children. It had only spoken in garbled, incoherent mumbling at first. After a few months, he'd been able to pry out of it a name: Dunn. Officer Dunn, the man he'd killed not long before he died.

Dunn didn't recognize him, of course. He'd been in his suit when he killed the officer. That same suit was sitting here in the saferoom, unused, in the back corner. As far as he could discern, the suit had been why Dunn was in the room when William arrived.

William looked back out into the hallway. Any second now, and Dunn would come around the corner with one of the children in tow. He caught a brief movement in the gloom, on the wrong side of the hallway. He turned to look, staring down through the doorway on the other side of the hall. Two bright white eyes stared back at him, a glowing set of teeth just beneath them. It was too dark to make out anything else, but William knew what it was. Another shadow creature, a rabbit. The thing frequently watched him from outside the saferoom, unblinking, unmoving. There was something familiar about it, though, something he couldn't place.

Footsteps to the right. William broke the shadow's gaze, watching as Dunn entered the hallway. Freddy followed him, his eyes showing tiny pinpricks of light inside his pupils. William clutched his screwdriver, the only thing he'd been able to find that he could use against the children. He knew how the suits were held together, the animatronics couldn't be too different.

He stepped to the side as Dunn passed through the doorway. Technically, he didn't need to, since the shadow was fairly insubstantial, but passing through it was a very unpleasant experience. Freddy walked up to the doorway and tried to follow, but he stopped short at the threshold. His legs moving as if he was nailed to the floor.

Any second now.

Freddy regarded the doorway for a moment before turning away. William let him get a few paces down the hall before he attacked.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

William looked out across the hallway. The parts and pieces of the characters were strewn about haphazardly. Foxy's hook here, Chica's hand - still holding the cupcake - there, Freddy's head at his feet. It had been hard to destroy the suits, Foxy had almost gutted him with that hook. William looked at it and shuddered. He didn't know what would happen if he "died" here, and he didn't want to find out. He looked up, towards the doorway across the hall. Once again, the shadow rabbit stared back. As far as he could tell, the rabbit had stayed in that same spot every night since he had started dismantling the animatronics. It was unsettling at first, seeing those eyes frozen in place - never moving, never blinking - for so long, but now it was nothing short of infuriating.

"So," he said to the creature across the hall, "what happens now?" No response. "Are you going to just watch me forever, or are you going to tell me who you are?"

Nothing. At least, it looked like nothing. The room beyond, where the rabbit stood, was too dark to make anything out, so he couldn't be absolutely sure. William advanced across the hallway, towards those unblinking eyes. If the rabbit wouldn't speak, he had other methods of finding out.

He strode towards the doorway and the creature. It held his gaze the entire way, not making any sign of movement. He stopped short, however, when he felt something touch his chest. He felt at it, probing it with his fingers. It was a hand, and an arm.

The creature was reaching toward him.

William gripped the thing's wrist, squeezing it between his fingers. Sure enough, they started to sink in. His mind briefly wandered back to when he'd made the mistake of reaching into Dunn's form, the things he'd seen and felt. If this shadow rabbit was anything like Dunn, he'd be able to do the same here.

William pushed forward, letting the arm pass through him as he approached the rabbit. He could feel where the creature's arm was on his body, a cold region of his flesh that now felt like it wasn't his own. He stopped, not a foot away from the massive rabbit. William shoved his arm into the creature's torso, and he felt everything change.

Wood floors, cold metal, sorrow, regret, despair. The sensation rushed, forcefully, into William's consciousness. He was in a room, cradled in the arms of something cold and hard. His own arms were wrapped around it, his eyes almost shut. Whirring sounds, like machinery, like the animatronics, sounded from the thing wrapping him in an embrace. It moved, and William felt a sharp pain in his gut. The knife tore through him, cutting and tearing as blood gushed out around it. He heard a sound, barely audible, and he couldn't tell if it was coming from him or the thing in his arms.

"I'm sorry."

William dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. The sensation had been overwhelmingly real, and it took him a moment to reorient himself. The rabbit loomed over him, staring down with those blank white eyes. Understanding dawned on William, and he scrambled away from the creature.

He knew who it was.

"Henry," a young voice sounded behind William, "is that him?"

William swung his head towards the speaker. One of the children stood in the dining room, just outside the hallway. The child regarded him for a moment with his hollow eyes before it turned towards the rabbit.

"Is it him, Henry?" the spectre asked again, "Is it really him?"

William looked back toward Henry. The large rabbit was still staring at him, its eyes now glowing brightly. William felt a desire - no, a command - radiating from the thing that had once been his closest friend. It wanted him to answer, to confess. He felt himself starting to speak and, before he could stop himself, he let out two words.

"It's me."

The child screamed, calling for the others to come. William remained where he was, transfixed in Henry's gaze. More screams from the dining room broke his reverie, and he jumped up to his feet. William dashed back to the saferoom, jumping over the scattered remains of the animatronic characters. He could hear the children getting closer as they screamed at him.

"He's here!"

"Kill him!"

"Hurt him!

"Break him!"

"I hate him!"

As he reached the doorway, William felt an explosion of pain on his back, pain from a thousand cuts and bruises, pain from an agonizing, excruciating death. One of the children was latched onto him, pressing its spectral form into his body, making him feel its memory of dying.

He knew the feeling far too well.

William shook the child off and ran into the saferoom. He turned around, watching the doorway, hoping beyond hope that the children couldn't get in.

"You can't get away." The child said as it stepped into the saferoom. Its hollow eyes looked up at him triumphantly. Three other children walked into the room, and they lined up, blocking the only doorway. William looked out into the hallway beyond, and he saw Henry, now much closer, cradling the smallest child in his pitch black arms. The children parted, and Michael strode into the room. Pinpricks of light shone inside of his otherwise empty eyes.

"I remember." Michael said, "We all remember now." He turned to the smallest child, as if asking for permission. "Sammy," He started.

"Kill him." The small child said, still held in Henry's arms. Sammy turned his head towards William, his tearlines were a vibrant, bloody red and his hollow eyes held two bright white pupils. He glared at William. "I want him to hurt."

Michael bolted towards William, reaching out with his small, ghostly arms. William ran, and Michael followed. There was nowhere for William to go, so he tried to simply distance himself from the boy. He'd felt the agony of a violent death three times already. He didn't want to feel it again at the hands of these vengeful children. William looked around for something, anything, to help him, when his eyes settled on the springlock suit.

William rushed over to it. Years ago, it would have taken him well over ten minutes to simply put it on, but he'd learned over the years since the original restaurant how to quickly get into it. He slipped into the costume, carefully latching it together with all the speed he dared use. Taking it off would be a long process, sure, but William managed to get into the suit in under a minute. He stood, and Michael stopped in his tracks. William felt a surge of satisfaction. For whatever reason, it seemed that the suit would offer him some protection from the children. He laughed, reveling in the feeling of power that he now had. Now that he was protected, he'd be free to do as he wished. He could stop cowering in the saferoom and start over. He could make a new creation, if he wanted. He could-

He breathed on the springlocks.

And William Afton died all over again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It felt different this time. Less messy, perhaps. The springlocks all tripped at the same time, and the machinery violently shoved its way into his body. Blood shot out from his suit, splattering across the checkered floor. He collapsed to his knees, twitching uncontrollably as more of his blood seeped out of his body. William looked up at the children, who stood triumphantly in the doorway. Their tiny forms slowly faded away, leaving only the shadows behind. Dunn had joined Henry in the hallway, and he stared now at William, his mouth open wide in what seemed like shock.

William collapsed on the floor, and everything turned white.

William felt an overwhelming _pressure_ in his mind. A force straining against his very consciousness, pushing itself painfully against his mind. He tried to clutch his head, but his arms were gone, along, it seemed, with the rest of his body, and the pressure built until-

SNAP!

Something broke inside William's mind. His thoughts became jumbled, his perceptions fractured. William's consciousness flooded with anger, and with horror.

Then he fell onto a hard floor.

A rush of sensation flowed into William's being. A broken body, cold metal, darkness, a flickering light. Pain.

He couldn't feel much of his body, and as the shock of his sudden revival faded, he could feel the numbness in his arms and legs. He tried to move them, and his body lurched in response. The light above his head flickered, briefly illuminating the room around him. A checkered floor, now covered in mold and dust, lay beneath him. The walls had clearly once been white, but now they showed their age with stains from mold and moisture covering them top to bottom. A starry purple curtain lay in tatters not far from where he sat.

William tried to move again, and was answered with another lurch. Footsteps sounded in the distance. William ignored them, working, striving, to regain feeling in his limbs. They shuddered and spasmed in response. The footsteps cautiously grew closer, and William frantically tried to stand. The result was him jerking and shaking sporadically as a flashlight beam rounded the doorway from outside the room and rested on him.

"Woah," the flashlight's bearer said, "Jon's gonna flip when he hears about you, pal."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Theodore Hansen pulled in to Fazbear Fright's empty parking lot. The night sky was pitch black, and the streetlamps cast a dingy yellow glow across the asphalt. His old sedan sputtered a bit as he turned off the engine.

"You sound like you need a tune-up." Ted said absentmindedly as he got out, "Well, I need money for that tune-up. Maybe we'll both get what we need when October's out." Ted locked his car, shouldered his backpack. and walked up to the building. It didn't look like much from the outside. Large grey bricks comprised most of the exterior, the roof was flat, windows were nowhere to be found, and the few doors on the building were an unadorned black. Jon had painted a mural on the front, though. That was new. It depicted Freddy Fazbear attacking a group of fleeing teenagers while ghosts wailed in the background. Freddy's eyes glowed and his mouth was dripping with blood, though it looked more like he was drooling than anything else. Ted looked at the ghosts again and smirked. _Ghosts,_ he thought, _how ridiculous._

Ted unlocked the door and stepped inside. He wove through the haunted house, taking care not to bump into any of the decorations. That stuff was ancient and everything smelled like someone had died in it. Definitely not high on Ted's 'I want to touch this' list.

After a few minutes, Ted reached the office. Office wasn't a very good way to describe it, though. The room was longer than it was wide, a massive window took up most of one side, and it was cluttered with random decorations that Jon had found. A box full of random bits of the old characters lounged not far from the entryway, crayon drawings lined the walls. A desk sat, almost wedged in, up against the window wall. An ancient laptop, a fountain drink, a corded telephone, a wad of paper, three figurines, and a small fan ornamented it. The desk had a swivel chair, but there was so little room between the desk and the other wall that it didn't turn very far.

Ted walked in, scooting the box over to the wall with his foot. He swung his backpack off of his shoulders, plopping it down on the floor before he plopped himself into the chair. He looked over at the phone. The red message light was blinking. Ted sighed and hit the play button. The phone rang for a few seconds before Jon's voice came over the speaker.

"Hey, hey. Glad you came back for another night." Jon started.

That's funny, Jon said that as if he hadn't called in the favor Ted owed him from Vegas to bring him back to the haunt.

"I promise it will be a lot more interesting this time."

Ted paused the recording. "Really?" he said, "Because last week was perhaps the most boring thing I've ever done." He turned in his chair and started rummaging around in his backpack. "How boring?" He asked, pulling out a textbook, "So boring that I decided to bring my homework this week, Jon." Ted waved the textbook at the phone, "Homework!" He plopped the textbook down on the desk. "I never do my homework when I can be doing other things!"

Ted eyed the book for a second before sighing and pressing play again.

"We found some, some great new relics over the weekend." Jon continued. No surprises there.

"And we're out tracking down a new lead RIGHT NOW! So, uh, let me just update you real quick, then you can get to work."

Work? What work? Ted eyed textbook again. It sat smugly on the table, a reminder of how desperate he had become to simply have something to do.

"Like, the attraction opens in, like, a week. So we have to make sure everything works, and nothing catches on fire!"

You sound a little excited about that idea, Jon.

"Uh, when the place opens, people will come in at the opposite end of the building, and work their way toward you, then past you, and out the exit."

Wait…

"Uh, yeah you've officially become part of the attraction."

What?

"You'll be starring as:" Jon proclaimed, "The security guard!"

Ted paused the recording again and leaned back as far as the seat would let him. "Great." He said, "Just great." He paused, looking down at the phone, "I'm not an actor, Jon! What am I supposed to do? You said earlier that I was just supposed to keep an eye on the place, not put on a show!" He slumped forward and pushed the play button, sighing.

"So, not only will you be monitoring the people on the cameras as they pass through," Jon continued, oblivious to Ted's outburst, "you know, to make sure no one steals anything, or makes out in the corner, but you'll also be a part of the show."

Ugh.

"It'll make it feel really authentic, I think." Jon's voice said, "Uh, now let me tell you about what's new: We got another set of drawings –always nice—and a foxy head! Which we think could be authentic! Then again it might just be another crappy cosplay. And we found a desk fan, very old school." Jon paused, "Metal, though, so watch the fingers. Uh, heh, uh, right now the place is basically just, you know, flashing lights and spooky props, but I honestly thought we'd have more by now. Uh, if we don't have something really cool by next week, we might have to suit you up in a furry suit- "

How about no?

"-and make you walk around saying 'boo,' heheh."

Definitely no.

"Uh, but, you know, like I said, we're trying to track down a good lead right now. Uh, some guy who helped design one of the buildings. Says there's, like, an extra room that got boarded up, or, uh, something like that. So, we're gonna take a peek and see what we can find. Uh, for now just get comfortable with the new setup. Um, you can check the security cameras over to your right with a click of that blue button."

Sure enough, a blue button now sat on the underside of the desk. Ted hadn't noticed that before.

"Uh, you can toggle between the hall cams and the vent cams. Uh, then over to your far left, uh, you can flip up your maintenance panel."

You mean Abraham Lincoln's laptop over there? Yeesh, how did Jon find a piece of tech that was that _old_?

"You know, use this to reboot any systems that may go offline. Heh, so, in trying to make the place feel vintage we may have overdone it a bit, heheh. Some of this equipment is barely functional."

No kidding. Ted eyed the ancient laptop again. Gosh, he'd have to _use_ that thing, wouldn't he?

"Yeah, I wasn't joking about the fire. That, that's, that's a real risk. Uh, the most important thing you want to watch for is the ventilation. Look, this place will give you the spooks, man, and if you let that ventilation go offline, then you'll start seeing some crazy stuff, man. Keep that air flowin'!"

Good to know. Ted flipped open the 'maintenance panel' and was greeted by green letters on a black screen. He shut the laptop. He wasn't that desperate. Yet.

"Ok, keep an eye on things, and we'll try to have something new for ya tomorrow night!" Jon hung up, and the message ended.

Jon had seemed pretty distracted when he made that message. Ted had lost track of how many times he'd said 'uh' or 'um.' He'd also lost track of how many times Jon had asked him to do something stupid. Something ridiculously high, like five or something. Yeesh.

Ted looked over at the blue button and pushed it. A screen flipped from some place over to his right directly into his face, smashing his nose.

"Ow!" Ted yelled. "Dangit, Jon! That hurt!" He scooted back in his chair and took a look at the screen. It showed an image of one of the rooms in the haunt. The resolution was terrible, though, and the screen frequently filled with static. In the lower right corner of the screen, a map of the haunt was overlayed onto the camera feed. Each camera was numbered and two more boxes lay to the left of the map: Play Audio and Map Toggle. Experimentally, Ted tapped the Play Audio box. Nothing happened. He shrugged and started flipping through the cameras. Nothing interesting, nothing interesting, nothin-

Ted jumped back from the screen, hitting his head on the wall behind him. The screen now showed a face with black streaks and glowing eyes. It stared at the camera with a terrifying intensity.

What is that thing?

Then, suddenly, the screen flipped back to the right.

And the same face floated in the air right where the screen had been.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6** **So, since it's Halloween today, and I had some extra time, I decided to give you a two for one special: You get two chapters in the time frame of one! Happy Halloween everybody!**

Jon ducked into the window of the abandoned mall. He'd done this a dozen and a half times already, but this time was special. Philip hadn't been very specific when he'd called, but he'd been excited, and that was cause for Jon to be. He hopped down onto the floor, taking in the smell of the slowly decaying building. Yep, that was the smell of adventure!

Jon strolled over to the hidden entrance to Freddy's. Philip was already there, leaning on the doorframe. Philip was easily sixty years old, but he didn't act that way. That Jon could respect. If an old architect wanted to hang out with people a third of his age, he darn well could.

"You ever wonder what happened to this door?" Jon asked. He pointed to the ruined scrap that they had pulled out of the doorway when they first came to the restaurant.

Philip looked at the door and grinned. "Somebody had a good time with a hammer." He said. "Come on." He motioned toward the restaurant and walked in. Jon followed, stepping back into perhaps the worst smelling place he'd ever been.

He took a moment to take it all in. Ah, how wondrous it was.

"You still won't tell me what you found?" Jon asked, hurrying to catch up with Philip, who was already in the dining room.

"Nah," Philip said, "You should experience it for yourself."

"Ok." Jon shrugged, "If you say so."

Philip turned towards a hallway in the far-right hand corner of the dining room. He gestured toward it. "Right this way." He turned to Jon, "Go on ahead."

Jon walked past him and into the hallway. He looked around, squinting in the dim light. "Sucks that they cut the power to this place." He said, "Which way?"

"Are you sure they cut the power?" Philip asked, "Look again."

"Silly Philip likes his drama." Jon muttered to himself, looking around again. Just like before, there was no light coming out of the-

Wait. To the left. Jon turned. He could have sworn that-

Again. A brief flicker of light came from a doorway at the end of the hall. One that had not been there the last time he came. Boards and torn wallpaper were strewn about on the floor.

So, that was the back room. But, why had the lights only come on when Jon was looking? Jon turned around and saw Philip leaning against the wall, grinning. A small rectangle of the wall hung on tiny hinges, open like a door. The open section of the wall revealed a panel of switches.

"Hidden fuse box." Jon said, "Cool."

"One of my better ideas." Philip's grin deepened.

"Better than the closet skylight." Jon smirked.

Philip laughed, a loud, barking sound. He motioned for Jon to go on. Jon turned back into the hallway and walked over to the door. The old saferoom was full of, well, stuff. Most of it was unrecognizable, but he could probably use it in the haunt. The light flickered again, drawing his attention.

And then he saw it.

A rotted yellow rabbit was sitting on the floor, just under the light. It writhed and twisted, as if trying to stand but chained to the floor. It looked at him and cocked its head, twitching violently. It swung its arms forward, pushing with them, trying to heave itself onto its feet. A particularly violent spasm, however, sent it toppling onto the ground.

Jon heard Philip walk into the room behind him. "You like it?" He asked smugly.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude." Was Jon's only reply.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The face lunged forward, letting out an inhuman scream as it brightened into a blinding white. Ted slammed his head against the wall as he attempted to jump away from it. His vision blurred, and he began to hear a sound - distant at first - a loud, electric bleating. His vision began to refocus, and he looked around him, trying to get a glimpse of whatever that _thing_ was.

It was gone. Instead, Ted was greeted by a flashing red light that filled the room. His vision blackened and then returned. Ted's mind raced, trying to figure out what was going on. The red light and the bleating noise must be some kind of alarm. A fire? No, he didn't smell smoke. And what was that thing he had seen?

Then he remembered the message Jon had left. "Look, this place will give you the spooks, man, and if you let that ventilation go offline, then you'll start seeing some crazy stuff, man. Keep that air flowin'!"

The ventilation!

Ted's vision blacked out again. He could feel himself slowing, his breathing became labored and heavy. Ted's hands trembled as he fumbled at the desk, trying to feel for the laptop. His vision returned just long enough for him to find it before fading back into blackness. He flipped it up and started pressing buttons, trying to find the one that would reset the vents. His whole body began to shake, his fingers going numb and his limbs going limp. He barely even felt it when he fell off of the chair and hit the floor.

 _I'm going to die._

Ted started awake, gasping. He was sitting on a hard, cold floor. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms were wrapped around them.

What?

Ted looked up, he was in a large room with a checkered floor. A stage sat directly in front of him. Bright lights illuminated the empty stage, casting a somewhat dim glow over the rest of the room. Tables and chairs were piled off to one side, by an old mechanical horse ride. Everything looked ancient and decrepit, as if the place had been left to rot ages ago.

Shuffling footsteps sounded behind him, and Ted jumped, scrambling around to face whatever was there.

It was a massive purple bear. It regarded him with two flat white eyes before turning to its left and saying "Follow me."

Ted hesitantly stood up. The bear walked over to a hallway and stopped, apparently waiting for him to follow. Ted looked around the room again. There were two doors on the walls adjacent to the stage. The one to the right of the stage led off into another hallway, the other had a door. On the right side were what looked like two more doorways, one twice as wide as any of the others. Looking farther to the right, he came to the wall the bear had been standing by. There was a double door, like the kind in restaurants, and two hallways. The purple bear stood by the one on the right, standing completely still. The last wall had another door in addition to the one near the stage.

Ted looked back at the bear. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Dunn." The bear said, not moving.

"Done?" Ted asked, "Done with what?"

The bear shook its head and started down the hallway. "Follow me." It said again.

Ted looked around one more time before shrugging and following the bear. He certainly didn't have a better plan.

"So, where are you taking me, Mr. Done?" Ted asked, jogging to catch up with the bear, "In fact, where am I now?" They passed a door on the right. Ted tried to look in, but it was too dark to see anything. He looked back at the bear, who was still walking forward. It didn't act like it had even heard him.

"Look, Mr. Done." Ted said as they passed another door to the left, "I'm gonna need more than just 'Follow me' here, because I have no idea what the freak is happening." No response. "Ok," Ted said, "New topic: What's with the bear suit? Are you a furry or something?" Nothing. "Hey," Ted raised his hands defensively, "no judgements here. I-"

He stopped, staring at the wall to his left. There were four large patterns drawn on the wall. Each was a group of four rectangles with one of them drawn in yellow instead of white, like the others. The yellow square was different on each pattern. First the top left, then the bottom left, then the top right, and finally the bottom right. He looked over to the other wall, and saw more painted there. A long jumble of letters adorned the wall. BBdblclick.

"Hey, Done." Ted said, turning to look at the bear. "What's-" He stopped again. The bear was gone. Ted looked back down the hall from where he'd come. Nothing. Ted shrugged and continued down the hall towards where the bear had been leading him. He shook his head.

"I must be tripping so hard I'd make Bob Marley jealous." He said softly. The doorway flashed white, and when the light faded, he could make out the silhouette of a child standing in it.

"Yep," Ted nodded, "tripping."

He walked through the doorway, and everything turned white. When the light faded, he found himself in a large room with a low roof and, platforms? A large platform jutted out of the wall not five feet from where he stood. Two red balloons floated in the air, stationary, just above it. Ted shrugged and climbed on top of the platform, brushing past one of the floating balloon strings. He stood up and turned around. Now that he was on top of the platform, he could see that the low 'roof' he'd seen before was just another platform. Looking around, Ted could see two more platforms above the two he'd already seen. Balloons were scattered uniformly in the air, floating in fixed positions above the platforms.

Man, what was in that air he'd been breathing?

Ted hopped up onto the next platform and strolled over to the middle. He poked one of the balloons as he passed. It didn't move. Weird. He passed the balloons, climbing up onto the next platform when he heard footsteps beneath him. A small, round, cartoonish child hopped onto the first platform, grabbing the balloons as he passed them. A faint ding sounded each time he grabbed one of the balloons, and a soft springing sounded whenever he jumped. The child turned and jumped up, ran across the second platform, and jumped onto Ted's platform, snatching the balloon he'd been looking at, and turned and hopped onto the next one.

After grabbing the balloons on that platform, the child hopped onto the one above him and passed out of sight. Ted could hear him jumping and the soft _ding_ as he found more balloons. Ted looked behind him. A balloon floated in the air a few feet away. The child hadn't taken that one. Ted heard another jump, directly above him, and the child floated down right in front of his face. It laughed, a haunting, echoing sound, as its face came level with his.

Ted yelped, slapping the boy away. That face, it looked just like the one that had attacked him! Sure, this didn't look like it had been burned and then left in a cesspool for twenty years, but it was definitely the same face. The child swung backward, drifting away from him until it landed on the platform. It reached behind it and snatched the last balloon, laughing and standing up. It reached its arms out, laughing again and walking directly toward him.

"No!" Ted yelled, "No, no, no, no, no! You stay far away from me!" He backed up until he teetered on the edge of the platform. "I don't want any more of your acid-trip nightmare!" The child ignored him, beckoning with its spherical hands as it approached him.

Ted kicked it.

The child let go of its balloons, sailing through the air and right through the wall.

What the?

The wall appeared undisturbed. No sign that an oversized plastic doll had just passed right through it. Ted cautiously approached it. He tried kicking the wall, but that only resulted in him stubbing his toe. He hesitated, then tried to touch the wall where the child had passed through. Sure enough, so did his hand.

Might as well.

Ted hopped through the wall, pulling up his legs. And fell. Very, very far. He screamed as he plunged downward. The room he had been in seemed to be simply floating in midair, and he passed by its bottom as he fell. He landed hard on a bright red surface. Ted shook his head and stopped screaming. He looked up, nothing but an infinite black void. He stood up and looked around. Everything was that same empty blackness except for a line of large, red, flat-topped balloons leading off into the distance.

More balloons. Whoop-de-freakin'-doo.

Ted jumped to the nearest balloon. It didn't budge when he landed on it. "I hate parkour." He muttered to himself as he hopped to the next balloon. He almost fell off of the third one, but eventually, he made his way to another platform. He looked around again as he walked forward. Nothing interesting out there. Where was he going, anyway? Ted looked down at the platform he was walking on.

And saw a dead body.

Ted ran as fast as he could back to the giant balloons. He wasn't sure why there was a body there, and he didn't want to know. He jumped onto the nearest balloon.

And fell right through.

Ted screamed again as he fell through the abyss. This time, he fell even farther before landing on a black floor. He scrambled onto his feet. The black abyss had been swapped out for alternating stripes of black, grey, and white. A giant, pitch black tree loomed a few feet away. Standing under it were three silhouettes of that child he'd seen earlier. They all had their heads bowed and long, grey, streams ran from their eyes all the way down to the floor. Ted ran, trying to get away from whatever madness he'd descended into. He ran straight into a huge, black wall. Ted turned, and ran to the side. Another wall, this one striped. He looked back at the tree. Nothing had moved.

Well, shoot.

Ted ran past the tree. None of the silhouettes moved. They simply stood, silently, as he ran by. Up ahead, a massive blue box came into view. It looked a little bit like the outside of the room he'd been in. Ted ran up to it and felt around at the wall. His hands passed through it easily. Ted looked back at the tree, the three silhouettes had moved and were now lined up next to the tree, staring at him.

Ted decided to chance whatever was in the box.

He jumped through the wall, and was greeted by another room full of platforms. Footsteps sounded outside, and Ted hurriedly began climbing. Oddly enough, there was only one balloon in this room. Ted saw it as he climbed up to the top platform. It hung there in the air, motionless, like the others. This one, however, was larger, and it was constantly changing colors. Ted poked it. Nothing happened.

He grabbed the string.

The balloon shot upwards, pulling Ted along with it. It rose through the roof and up into the darkness outside. Ted tried to let go, but his hand felt like it was glued to the string. He couldn't move his fingers. The balloon floated up through another large blue ceiling before bursting with a loud 'BANG!' and deposited Ted right in front of the dead body.

But there wasn't just a body.

Standing above it, floating in the air, was a small, spectral child. Its form was a bright, misty white. The only features that he could discern on the child were two large, hollow eyes and two long grey lines that streaked down from the child's eyes to its chin. Small drops formed at the bottom of the long, jagged lines and dripped off, vanishing before they hit the floor. The child's gaze was fixed on the floor, it sniffled softly.

Ted looked down at the body. "Oh." He said, "Is that you?" The child nodded. Ted looked down at the body again. It was cut in a thousand different places, with limbs twisted at unnatural angles, bent and broken. "I'm so sorry." Ted said, "Is, is there anything I can do?" The child looked up at him, and a cake materialized between them.

"You did." The child said.

And everything faded to black.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Ted groaned, he felt awful. His head ached, his stomach churned, and his lungs felt like fire. He rolled over slightly, shifting his weight. Something felt off about the floor beneath him. It was softer, more springy. But, worst of all, it was crusty. It took a moment for the realization to hit him.

This wasn't a floor.

Ted's eyes snapped open. He was met by a blinding light. He squinted, groaning again.

"He lives!" said a familiar voice. "Welcome back from the land of the dead, Ted."

"What?" Ted asked as his eyes adjusted to the light. A large shadow in front of him gradually coalesced into a face.

"How ya feelin'?" The face asked, grinning.

"Terrible." Ted replied. He blinked several times until his vision cleared. Jon was squatting a few feet away, a goofy smile covered his face.

"You are one lucky duck, pal." Jon said, walking over to a chair and sitting down. "You were in pretty bad shape when I went in to check on you this morning."

"What?" Ted asked, he sat up, shaking his head. Jon handed him a glass of water, and he started drinking. Ted swallowed wrong, and started coughing hard.

"Easy, man." Jon said. "Don't kill yourself after all that."

Ted coughed, clearing his throat. "What happened?"

"Well," a voice came from a few feet away, a pretty young lady, about Jon's age, walked into the room. "Jon and I were going to have a movie marathon over at my house, but he said that he needed to check up on you first." She handed Ted another glass of water and a small pill. Ted looked at it, questioningly. "Ibuprofen." She said, "For your head."

"How did you know my head hurt?" Ted asked. His head _was_ throbbing, but he didn't remember mentioning it.

"That big purple oval on your forehead told me." She pointed to his head, at a spot an inch or so above his left eye. Ted felt at it and cringed. That was definitely a bruise. He took the pill.

"Thanks, Delilah."

She smiled, "Anytime."

"So," Ted asked, "what, exactly, happened?"

"Well," Jon said, "We were going to watch as much of Attack On Titan as we could-"

"Not really a movie marathon." Ted remarked, glancing at Delilah. She shrugged.

"Same difference." She said.

"Nah, I'm gonna have to side with Ted on this one." Jon said, "But, anyway, I wanted to go and see how you were liking the haunt, so we hopped in my car and drove over to check on you."

"When we got there," Delilah said, "You were lying on the floor, barely breathing. Jon thought you'd been doing drugs or something."

"So," Jon picked up, "We took you back to my place and set you down on my 'rehab couch.'"

Ted looked down at the couch he was sitting on. "Your rehab couch?"

"I know some interesting people." Jon replied.

"What's with the color?"

"You don't wanna know."

Ted shook his head again. "Well," he said, "I might as well have been on drugs last night. What is wrong with those vents, Jon?"

"Oh," Jon said, "is that what happened?" He nodded, "Yeah, the guys went a little overboard when they put the place together, didn't they?"

"No kidding." Ted replied, "I saw the trippiest things last night."

"Like what?" Jon leaned in, looking eager.

"Balloons," Ted described, "and giant purple bears, and, um, kids? And cake, there was a cake, too."

Jon laughed, "Man," he said, "you must have had a ball last night!"

"No." Ted shook his head, "That sucked."

"Sounds like fun to me." Jon laughed again, "You almost had a better time last night than I did!"

"What did you do last night?" Ted asked.

"Oh," Jon's eye twinkled mischievously, "You'll find out tonight."

"Wait," Ted held up his hand, putting it against his still throbbing forehead. He accidentally touched the bruise, and it sent a jolt of pain through his face. "You want me to go back in there already?"

"Yeah," Jon said apologetically, "we still need somebody to look after the haunt at night. You know, to make sure that nothing catches on fire."

"Well, what are you doing tonight?" Ted suggested.

"I'm gonna go get some more stuff for the haunt." Jon said, "We found a boatload of old decorations and parts from the restaurant last night." Ted gave him a flat stare.

"Remember Vegas." Jon said.

"You always bring up Vegas!" Ted accused.

"Because you still owe me big for it." Jon defended.

Ted leaned back against the couch. It crunched and crackled, and he quickly leaned forward. He _did_ technically still owe Jon for Vegas. That would probably keep coming back up anytime Jon needed anything, unless Ted did something big for him now.

"Fine." Ted relented, "But only if I won't owe you for Vegas anymore."

Jon grinned, "That'll cost you the rest of the week."

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday." Jon replied, "You weren't out for _that_ long."

"What time is it?"

"Three."

Ted sighed. "Ok. I'll go back tonight."

Jon grinned again, "Thanks, pal. I knew I could count on you."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Author's note: Sorry that it took me so long to get back to writing more of this. During November, I was working on a collaborative NaNoWriMo challenge with several other people, and that occupied a great deal of my free time. Now that November is over, I'll be able to continue writing this story and I aim to finish before March. No guarantees, though, since I'm still a college student.**

Something felt off.

William wasn't sure how he knew, but he could tell that those two men he'd seen last night had moved him. He wasn't in Freddy's anymore.

William looked around The Perfect Day, nothing had changed here. The place still looked like the old restaurant after decades of decay, but he could _feel_ the things around him shifting location in the outside world. Someone was taking souvenirs from Freddy's and moving them all to the same place.

One of the children walked past him, distractedly gazing into the distance. They'd all been acting like that for almost a week, as if trying to figure out what was happening outside of their small, enclosed reality. They walked around, muttering about 'someplace new.' None of them even seemed to notice William anymore.

 _Well,_ he thought, _almost._ Two of the children sat on the stage, glowering at him. Michael and Sammy had hardly left that spot since things started getting moved. It almost seemed like the stage was some sort of refuge to them, a place to hide from whatever was happening, but still be able to watch it all happen.

"You two can't stay up there forever." William said, earning him a deeper glare from Michael, "We're all in a new place now, and I'm the only one who still has a suit that's still in one piece. You do know what that means, don't you?" The children continued glaring at him, not moving from their place on the stage. "It means I'm still free." William explained, "I'm still free while you remain trapped in this place."

"I still remember." Michael said, standing, "They forgot again, and they're looking for you, but I didn't. I won't ever forget!"

"And that little fact has clearly not helped you accomplish anything." William shot back, "I'm too far gone to feel your pain anymore, so your little trick doesn't affect me. You can't kill me, since I've already died _twice_. I'm as much one of you now as I was before I died!"

"NO!" Sammy screamed, jumping to his feet, "You can't be! You can't EVER be one!" He leapt down from the stage, pressing his tiny form up against William, trying to make William feel his painful death, like he could before.

It didn't work.

"You can't hurt me anymore, Sammy." William shook the child off of his leg, which now shed a brilliant white mist from its edges, just like the children's spectral bodies. Sammy slumped into a heap on the floor, just at the foot of the stage. The red glow faded from his tearlines, and he sobbed quietly.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The child muttered as he cried. William watched for a moment, feeling no pity, before looking up at the stage. Michael stared back, tiny pinpricks of light shining out of his hollow eyes.

"You can't be one of us." Michael stated coldly, "We hate you."

"So you do." William replied, "Perhaps I'll just have to settle for the other children." Michael stiffened, clenching his tiny fists. William grinned. "I trained Dunn to help me break your suits, and he was an adult when I killed him. You children shouldn't be too hard to teach."

"Henry won't let you." Michael countered.

Michael had a point, Henry had a way with the children. They trusted him, flocked to him, believed him. Children had always loved Henry, even before Freddy's. Henry had always been perfect. Too perfect.

"Henry and I _made_ Freddy's." William retorted, " _Together._ Henry is going to help me."

"No." Michael shook his head, calling William's bluff, "Henry _hates_ you."

William opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he felt it. The pull. Another place began to flicker into view. A room piled high with rotted pieces of the old suits. He could feel his consciousness being _pulled_ from this limbo and back into the world of the living.

It was almost midnight.

The appearances of the other place began to grow more frequent, showering William with the sensations of a physical existence. Michael looked on jealously, folding his tiny arms and shifting his weight back and forth.

"It's such a shame that you don't have much of a body anymore." William gloated, "I guess that I'll just have to roam the halls alone, without any of you to bother me."

"We can still hurt you." Michael declared, taking a step towards William. "We can still hurt you."

William smirked. "Cute. You sound more desperate than threatening." He leaned forward, towering over the small child, despite the fact that Michael was standing on the stage. "You can't touch me now, Michael." He said, "And I'll build my family again, with or without you."

Michael shook his head defiantly. "No!" he shouted, "I won't let you. They'll remember, I'll make them remember!"

"Can you?" William asked, fixing a glare on the boy, "I'm going to have my creation back, and I won't let a single, stubborn child keep me from it! I'll-"

The other side flashed into view again, and William stopped short.

He'd seen something.

Michael started to speak, but William didn't listen. He waited, straining his senses, until he saw it again. The world of the living passed into his vision, giving him a clear view of a face. A person, who was staring directly at him.

William grinned wickedly. "You know what? Forget you children. I was never really cut out for parenthood, anyway." He turned back to Michael, who took a cautious step back, "I'll start over. I can begin a _new_ creation." He raised his hand, pointing to where the face had been. It flickered back into view.

"Starting with him."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Author's note: Thank you for your patience. Now that Christmas is over, I intend to be putting out chapters a lot more often.**

"You have got to be the creepiest thing I've ever seen."

Ted stared at the large, moldy _thing_ that now resided in the haunt. It stood awkwardly in one of the hallway-like portions of the building, its shoulders slumped and its head down. Ted leaned down to peer into the large rabbit's eyes. They were big, with bright red veins leading from the center outward. _I guess the guy who built you really liked fine detail._ Ted thought. He took a step back from the large prop, letting out the breath that he'd been holding.

"Sorry, pal, but you smell _way_ too bad." Ted shook his head, "I don't know what's coming off of you, but I ain't breathing it in."

A light popped off to the left, and Ted jumped, spinning to face it. The arcade room was now almost pitch-black, only illuminated by the flashing screen on one of the old game machines.

"Alright, creepyface." Ted turned back to the massive yellow rabbit, "What did you do?" The rotting corpse of a costume didn't budge. Ted sighed and walked through the darkened doorway, stepping over a rogue extension cable. One of the machines flickered on as he walked into the room. Its buttons lit up, flickering white. Ted started to look away, but found his eyes drawn back to the ancient arcade console. The buttons on the system flickered again, and the whole thing went dark. Ted squinted, straining his eyes in the darkly lit room. _No way._ He thought.

The buttons on the arcade machine were arranged in a very unusual manner. Instead of having four buttons spread apart like on a video game controller, this machine had four buttons clumped together, with the two bottom ones offset slightly to the right. It was just like the patterns that he'd seen painted on the wall after he'd passed out last night.

Top left, bottom left, top right, bottom right.

Ted experimentally pushed the top left button. It lit up. He let go and pushed the other three in the order he'd seen. Each button lit up when he pressed it and went dark again after he let go. Ted took a step back and waited.

Nothing seemed to change on the console. Ted looked around the room, nothing new there either. At least, nothing he could see. He shrugged and started off toward the office. A loud click sounded in the distance behind him, and Ted stopped in his tracks. He carefully turned around, staring through the doorway from where he'd heard the noise. Nothing moved. One of the lights sputtered for a second, briefly darkening the room. Ted suppressed a shudder and turned back to the office.

Ted plopped down in his chair, greeted once again by the blinking red message light. He cringed, his head still hurt from earlier, and pressed the play button. Once again, the phone rang for a few seconds before Jon's voice came on through the speaker.

"Hey, man- okay," Jon began, "I have some awesome news for you! First of all, we found some vintage audio training cassettes!" Ted looked around the room, he couldn't see anything new.

"Dude, these are, like, prehistoric!" Jon continued, "I think they were, like, training tapes for like, other employees or something like that. So, I thought we could, like, have them playing, like, over the speakers as people walk through the attraction. Dude, that makes this feel legit, man." Ted raised his eyebrows. That _did_ sound like a good idea, but he didn't see any way for him to play it.

"But I have an even better surprise for you, and you're not gonna believe this." Jon paused, "We found one."

"You mean creepyface in the hallway?" Ted asked.

"A REAL one." Jon explained.

"Definitely creepyface." Ted responded.

"Uh-oh" Jon's voice lost its enthusiasm, switching to a more concerned tone, "Uh, gotta go man- uh, well-well look, i-it's in there somewhere," he stuttered, "I'm-I'm sure you'll see it." Jon paused again, "Okay, I'll leave you with some of this great audio that I found! Talk to you later, man!"

"Yeah, I already saw him, Jon." Ted said, "Your _real one_ sure smells real, I'll tell ya that much."

Something clicked into place out of view, and a new voice began playing on the phone's speaker.

"Uh, hello! Hello, hello! Uh, welcome to your new career as a performer/entertainer for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."

Ted started looking around as the new voice droned on about suits. After a little while, he found what he was looking for. Attached to the underside of the desk was a cassette player, with several tapes inserted into a rack hanging next to it. Jon had apparently rigged it to work with the phone's speaker, and had left the first tape in the player for Ted.

Ted reached over to the rack and pulled out one of the tapes. "Day Three" the label read. He slid the tape back into its slot and backed out from under the desk. He stretched his back as he sat up, listening to the old tape as it played.

Ted yawned and pushed the blue button, this time leaning back to where the screen couldn't hit him. It flipped into place with a loud cranking noise.

"Let's check up on creepyface." Ted said to himself. He tapped the CAM 07 button, and the screen filled with static as it switched cameras.

It wasn't there.

Ted squinted, looking all over the room for a sign of the yellow rabbit. Nothing. He checked the cameras in the other rooms, no sign of the 'real one' there either. Ted hmmm-ed to himself, confused.

Suddenly, the camera feed went dead, and the monitor filled with static. The words "video error" flashed in red in the upper left portion of the screen. Ted sighed and pressed the blue button. The monitor obediently flipped back to the right, revealing a grinning face just on the other side of the window.

Ted froze, his hand halfway to the laptop. The rabbit was standing right outside his office, staring at him through the glass. They locked eyes for an awkwardly long time.

"Hi, creepyface." Ted finally said, breaking the silence.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The rabbit didn't respond. It stood outside the office, motionless, and stared at him. Its face was rotted and vile, stuck in a permanent wide grin. For a brief moment, Ted thought he could see its eyes moving, twitching ever so slightly within their sockets. Something was different about them, though. Ted stared at the archaic rabbit for a good two minutes before he recognized the change.

Its eyes glowed.

Ted had at first thought that it was just a trick of the light; a reflection on the window in just the right place, or maybe the inside of the eye itself, like getting red-eye in a picture, but the light wobbled and wavered as the rabbit's eyes twitched, shifting the shadows in the office ever so slightly. The glow wasn't bright, by any means, but it was still there, boring into him with a frightening intensity.

"I didn't know you were turned on." Ted spoke again, "Guess Jon got you working," Ted paused, staring at the desiccated machinery, "somehow." It seemed like it was something right up Jon's alley, to be honest. Ted could easily picture Jon giddily delving his hands into the rotting antique and fiddling with the nuts and bolts of the thing.

"You looking for some kind of repairs?" Ted asked. That's what he'd be looking for if he had a face like _that_.

No response came from the grinning face in the hallway.

"I mean, that's what _I'd_ want if I were a robot." Ted explained. The rabbit continued staring at him, smiling silently. "Well," Ted continued, not sure why he was still talking to the old thing, "don't think I can help you there. I'm not a, um," Ted raised his hands, pantomiming the action of using a screwdriver before the word came to him, "mechanic."

Still nothing.

"Well," Ted continued after a brief pause, "you _are_ in a haunted house now, so maybe it'll-" A loud electric bleating cut Ted's next words off, and a bright red light began pulsing in the office. Ted started, remembering the night before, when the same alarm heralded his brief descent into insanity.

"Just a sec." Ted glanced at the rabbit again and regained his composure. He flipped up the screen on the ancient laptop, greeted once again by the flickering green letters. Four lines of text were displayed on the screen: Cameras, Audio, Ventilation, and Reset All. The word 'error' was flashing next to both 'Cameras' and 'Ventilation.' Ted quickly selected the 'Reset All' option and hit enter. The laptop began beeping softly as an 8-bit progress bar slowly grew next to the words 'Reset All.' Ted drummed his fingers impatiently on the laptop, humming quietly to himself.

Suddenly, an ugly yellow hand swooped down from behind the laptop. It grabbed the top of the screen, cracking it in an instant. Ted stopped humming, his eyes widening as far as they would go. The hideous hand ripped the screen clean off of the laptop and hurled it to the side, where it smashed against the wall, breaking into pieces. Ted looked up at the ugly yellow rabbit that now towered over him. It glared down at Ted, its head twitching angrily. A violent, muted, electric garbling was now coming from the animatronic suit, and the glow in its eyes was bright and menacing.

"Nice creepyface." Ted whimpered.

The hideous rabbit's arm shot forward, grabbing Ted by the throat and hoisting him in the air. Ted clung desperately to its rotted forearm, trying to take the weight off of his neck, which now screamed with pain. The rabbit lowered Ted slightly, pulling him closer to its glowing eyes. It regarded him for a moment before its whole face split open at the mouth. The jaw dropped down, hanging limply from unseen joints, while the top of the face peeled itself up and off of whatever lay beneath.

Leaving Ted face to face with the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen.

A skull, broken and covered in a thin layer of grotesque, rotted pink flesh stared back at him. The whole face was pitted with holes and slick with what Ted sincerely hoped was just water. Two brightly glowing eyes stared daggers at him, and the flesh around the neck of the corpse was torn to ribbons. Its mouth started moving, a weak, shaking motion. It struggled for a minute, its jaw working furiously, before any sound could be heard.

"Do you know the joy?" it asked. The voice was barely audible. A harsh, tortured sound. Its hot, rancid breath washed over Ted, making his eyes water. Ted stammered for a moment before he managed to get any words out of his mouth.

"Joy?" Ted blurted out, trembling, "What joy? I know a girl named Joy."

The terrifying skull nodded slowly, as if expecting his response.

"You will." It said with finality. The rabbit turned toward the window and swung Ted, head first, into it. Ted hit with terrifying force, sending a massive crack through the thick glass. The rabbit hurled him into the window again, and it shattered. Shards of glass cascaded around Ted as the rabbit let go of his neck. He sailed straight through the window and crashed hard on the checkered floor outside, cut in a thousand different places.

As his vision faded into darkness, the last thing Ted saw was the rabbit stepping through the empty window frame and reaching toward him.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

William's body twitched furiously as he searched the room for parts. He could feel his fractured mind working as his fingers fumbled with the old costumes. His thoughts came in a jumbled mess, but it somehow made just enough sense for him to work with. He wasn't worried. Sure, he couldn't think straight now, but his mind would mend once the morning came.

Such was the life of a man trapped in limbo.

William reached into a large, messy pile of scraps, feeling around for anything recognizable. His hand closed around a small piece of metal, one that felt all too familiar. Pulling it out from within the pile, William brought the tiny piece of machinery up to his eyes.

A springlock. Yes, he'd need a lot of those, he knew that from experience.

William walked over to the young man, who lay slumped against the wall. He bent down, scooping up the piece of a suit that he'd been working on. It was old and definitely somewhat rotted, now more grey than whatever color it had been, but William believed that it might have once been Bonnie's thigh. He reached inside, feeling around for some place to insert the piece. Finding a location that suited him, he jammed it in, making sure that it was ready to snap shut. Having completed that part of the suit, he carefully slid it onto the youth's leg and attached it to the torso section that he'd finished earlier.

The young man now wore a strange amalgamation of parts and pieces from the various animatronics. His torso had come from Freddy, his right arm made from pieces of Bonnie and Chica, his left arm was from the old Fredbear costume, which had been a very lucky find. Taken all together, it was hideous. It was also an incredible source of joy. William had always wanted to create. He'd seen what Henry had done when he made the animatronics. He'd seen Henry experience the joy of creation. He'd always wanted that joy.

Now he could have it.

A few hours later, William had put together everything that he could manage. He couldn't figure out how to make gloves for the suit, and the head always fell right off. It was a shame that the youth wouldn't have a full suit, but what he had would have to do.

He could always just have more springlocks around the neck area. William nodded to himself and set off in search of more. Finding three, he affixed them to the young man's new collar and set them into perfect snapping position.

William stepped back, taking a second to admire his work. Would Henry have been proud of him? He thought back on the first restaurant, Fredbear's Family Diner. He and Henry had worked so hard to build the business from the ground up, so Henry would have been elated to see William learning to make suits. He would have strolled up, slapped William on the back and praised his newfound skill.

He _would_ have.

William's revelry ended as his train of thought soured. Henry had been his best friend. No, his _only_ friend. He wasn't just a man, Henry had been an idol that demanded worship simply by being there.

Perfect. That's what Henry had been. He'd been an astonishing model of what all people secretly aspired to be. He'd been an enigma, and a creator. Henry could take useless pieces of metal and make _anything_ out of them. He could practically make life itself!

Life.

Yes, life.

That's what William wanted to make. He didn't want some dusty old robotic suit to keep him company, he wanted life! That's what he did with the children. He gave them life eternal! Trapped in a place that kept them from moving on, eternally within a limbo of unfettered joy with him. His family.

Family. William wanted a family.

He could have one.

With that thought. William leaned down and tripped the boy's springlocks.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Ted started awake, gasping. He was sitting on a hard, cold floor. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms were wrapped around them.

"Not again!" Ted groaned, dropping his head down onto his knees. "Freaking again!"

"So, you _have_ been here before." another voice in the room spoke, Ted's head shot up, turning to face the speaker.

A man stood a few yards away, leaning on the half-checkered wall. His appearance was strange. The edges of his form were a brilliant white, and misty tendrils of the same color slowly cascaded off of his outline. He flashed a smile that Ted guessed was supposed to be disarming, but it looked more like a hungry shark eyeing down a piece of small fry.

"I was wondering if that was you." The man continued, strolling nonchalantly over to Ted. He looked around the room quickly before continuing. "You raised quite a stir when you first showed up in this place." He chuckled, "Of course, you probably never saw it yourself."

"Ok, pal." Ted said, still curled up on the floor, "I know I saw some pretty messed up stuff last night, but this is taking it to a whole new level. First creepyface, as if that wasn't bad enough, and now this?" He stood up, almost tall enough to look the man in the eye. "If this is some kind of messed up joke, you tell Jon that it ain't funny! Ok? And another thing-"

The man's arm shot forward, passing right through Ted's chest. Instantly, an icy chill and an excruciating pain filled his torso, right where the arm was. He could feel that portion of his body being violently ripped apart, his heartbeat weakening and the life flowing out of him. Ted toppled to the floor, gasping for breath, and the man withdrew his arm.

"Feel familiar?" he asked.

It did. Ted had felt that just moments ago, right before he woke up here. But that couldn't have been real. It was just another hallucination, it couldn't be anything else. If that had actually happened, he'd be freakin' dead or something.

"You-" Ted started, "How did you-"

"You died." The man said calmly. He paused, regarding Ted briefly before continuing, "Well, mostly. Looks like tonight I'll have to go back and finish the job."

"Wait, you what?!" Ted scrambled to his feet, backing several feet away from the stranger in front of him. The man winced, making a face like he'd said too much.

"You're not doing anything to me!" Ted shouted, "Ok, pal? Once I wake up, I'm quitting this stupid job! I'm going to my stupid house! And I'm _not_ coming back to this stupid repeating nightmare, Vegas or no Vegas!"

"Vegas?"

"It's a long story, alright?"

The man shook his head, "You're not leaving. This place _is_ you 'stupid home' now."

"Oh, really?" Ted asked, layering on as much sass as he could muster. "And why is that?"

"You don't listen," the man asked impatiently, "do you? You died. People who die at Freddy's always end up here, in my perfect day."

"Right, well your perfect day is a dump." Ted retorted, gesturing to the moldy wall. "Ever heard of soap? Besides, you said I was only mostly dead, and there's a big difference-"

"Yes," the man growled, cutting Ted off, "I only _mostly_ killed you. An oversight which I will soon remedy."

"Yeah," Ted turned and began walking away from the stranger, whose grin had long since morphed into a loathsome scowl, "Good luck with that. I'm just gonna go find that Done fellow, ok? He seems to know his way around here."

Ted only got a few steps farther before he was knocked to the ground. The man pinned him to the floor and held him there under his ghostly arms. Ted writhed in pain, every spot where his body made contact with his spectral assailant burned with the pain of a thousand lacerations. He struggled desperately, but the man only pushed harder into his back, driving his elbow right underneath Ted's ribcage.

"I will have my family again!" the man seethed, "If I have to start with a brat like you, then so be it! But I will _not_ let anyone come between me and my creation ever again!"

Had Ted been in any state to speak, he would have asked what the stranger meant by his 'family.' But the piercing agony he felt was all-consuming. He barely even noticed the looming sound of heavy padded footsteps.

Suddenly, a heaving purple mass overshadowed him, and the weight and torturous sensation was lifted from his back. The man let out a startled yelp before slamming hard into the moldy wall. Ted rolled over to look up at his furry deliverer.

"Follow me." Mr. Done said.

Ted didn't hesitate.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Ted followed behind Mr. Done as they ran over to the same hallway they'd taken the night before. The man groaned loudly behind them, and Ted could hear the shuffling sounds of him picking himself up off of the water-stained floor. Ted didn't bother to turn around and look.

Mr. Done slowed as he entered the hallway, returning to the previous night's shuffling gait. Ted nearly ran into him as he rounded the corner.

"Dude!" Ted exclaimed, "What are you doing? We can't just stop, he'll catch up to us!"

"Henry." The bear said calmly.

"Henry?" Ted asked, walking around the massive purple suit to put Mr. Done between him and his assailant, who was now confidently crossing the room beyond. "That's Creepyface's name?"

"No," Mr. Done shook his furry head, " _Henry_."

Just as Ted was about to ask what he meant, a massive shadow crossed in front of his view. Ted blinked, trying to discern what he was seeing. A massive silhouette now stood between the hallway and the larger room outside, blocking most of it from view. Ted heard the footsteps outside slow to a halt, and nodded slowly to himself.

"Henry." He said, "Henry's good."

With that, Ted and the bear resumed their walk down the hallway. They passed the same blackened doorways, and Ted stepped to the side to get another look at the painting on the walls. He stopped, squinting. The four patterns on the left-hand wall were different this time. Rounded at the top, with two holes in the middle and a wavy bottom. Ted cocked his head, trying to figure out what, exactly, they were. Skulls? Pac-Man ghosts?

"Hey, Done." Ted called out, turning to look at the purple bear, "What are-" He trailed off. Once again, Mr. Done was gone, and the door at the far end of the hallway flashed white, revealing a child-sized silhouette standing in the doorway.

"Okay." Ted turned to the other wall, "Maybe right-wall will help."

The other wall, unfortunately, didn't help. The pattern that he'd seen last night was still painted onto it. Top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right. That didn't do any good. He'd been hoping for _something_ a bit more informative. Words, maybe. But, since it didn't even change-

Wait, that wasn't right. Ted looked back at the left-hand wall. Hadn't the four rectangles been on the left side last night? Ted looked back at the right wall, squinting in the dim light. Those markings hadn't been there last night, that was where the jumble of letters was, wasn't it? Ted closed his eyes, trying to picture what he'd seen last night.

 _Bbdblclick_

The heck did that mean?

"B…. for balloons?" Ted mumbled to himself. He looked back at the left wall, and the eerily skull-like paintings that now adorned it.

"Well, if it's skulls or Pac-Man," Ted muttered, "I don't wanna know what tomorrow's nightmare is supposed to be like." Ted paused for a second, realizing what he'd just said. "Oh, wait. That's right. I won't be here tomorrow."

A dull thud sounded behind him, and Ted jumped, spinning around. The silhouette in the doorway was a jumbled mess, almost indiscernible body parts floated randomly in the air, fracturing and rearranging themselves as it moved to ward off the man in the other room. As Ted watched, the man made a lunge for an opening near the floor and the creature – Henry, apparently – whipped its dismembered forearm around, planting it solidly in his face. The man twisted and rolled in response, coming to his feet just inside the hallway.

Ted took off towards the door at the end of the hallway. He could hear the man's heavy footsteps growing closer.

"They can try to protect you _boy,_ " the stranger growled, "but, in the end, you are _mine!_ "

"Sorry," Ted panted as he reached the doorway, "I have a girlfriend." Then he slipped through the door and everything faded to white.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

When the light faded, Ted found himself in a purple room. More platforms jutted from the walls, but, this time, there were no balloons. A few oddly placed windows adorned the left-hand wall, and a strange, twisted piece of machinery floated in the air just above the nearest platform.

A scraping, scuffling sound drew Ted's attention downward. A hideously deformed _thing_ was scrambling towards him, pursued by a wide-eyed boy in a green shirt. The thing had a head like a fox, but the rest of it was a mangled jumble of twisted metal and exposed machinery. A piece of it swiveled around, turning to face Ted, and he jumped.

That _thing_ had two heads!

The second head bored its yellow eyes into Ted, regarding him with a shrewd gaze and an eerily skeletal face. Under its gaze, Ted couldn't help but take a few cautious steps back, bumping into the wall behind him. The gleaming metal head stared at him for a moment longer before the whole body lurched upward. It twisted and contorted, stretching out two spindly limbs and grasping a platform several feet away, and heaved itself up and on to it. The green-shirted kid that had been chasing the thing stopped under the platform, gazing longingly up at the horrifying contraption now perched overhead.

The mangled vixen peered cautiously over the edge of the platform, and the child jumped, swinging his outstretched hands at its canine face. The garbled monstrosity scrambled backwards, almost slipping off the other edge of the platform. It moved so strangely, and it took Ted a moment to piece together why.

It only had two limbs.

With the way that the mechanical fox was contorted, it was near impossible to tell which limbs they were, but, sure enough, there were only two of them. They writhed as the fox twisted itself around to face the piece of machinery that hovered just above the platform. It reached up and snatched it out of the air, sounding a faint 'ding!' like the child last night had made with the balloons. The white and pink-faced vixen lifted the contraption above itself before violently ramming it into its side. Ted jumped, startled, and the fox writhed, making loud snapping and clicking sounds.

Suddenly, it stopped. And the vixen stretched out, examining its _new arm._

Ted took a second to take it all in. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant, especially concerning how he was supposed to get out. Looking closer, he could now make out that the bizarre fox had two limbs near the front, and another in the back. Two arms and a leg.

"Well," Ted remarked quietly, "that's nothing short of absolutely disturbing."

The fox turned and reached out carefully to the next platform. Its claws slipped and slid on the elevated surface as it tried to find some kind of grip. The boy in the green shirt paced back and forth underneath it, gazing eagerly up at the struggling vixen above.

With a loud scrape, the deformed fox lost its grip and toppled off of the platform. The boy let out a squeal of delight and jumped up to meet it, wrapping his arms around the vixen in midair. The fox writhed and strained, but the child still managed to pin it to the ground, giggling and grinning the whole time. The boy wrapped his chubby little arms around one of the fox's limbs and, with a sickening _pop!_ , pulled it out. The fox writhed like a wounded animal, but the child simply laughed in response. He threw the limb into the air, and it moved, as if pulled by some invisible force, flying across the room and snapping into place in the air above a distant platform. The boy giggled, and continued dismembering the animatronic, throwing piece by piece into the air, where they shot over to take random places in the air above the platforms that jutted from the wall.

Finished, the child stood up and skipped away, leaving only the foxlike head behind.

The head lay on the ground for a second, and then Ted's eyes widened as it floated up into the air. It hung there, looking dejected, and began to make slow, halting movements in Ted's direction.

 _It's limping._ Ted thought, though he wasn't sure how. The thing had no legs to limp with. And yet, it moved as if attached to an invisible wounded body, struggling to move forward. Ted actually started to feel sorry for the thing.

It stopped just shy of the nearest platform and leapt up. There, suspended in the air just atop the platform, was the largest piece of the fox. A jumbled torso with a single leg attached. The head positioned itself on the other end of the part, and jammed itself onto a short jutting appendage. The body lurched as the head snapped into place atop a short neck, and eventually righted itself on the platform.

"Ah," Ted said, realization dawning on him, "I see. I know what to do."

Ted strolled across the room, the fox watching his progress with its metallic eyes, and kicked the kid.

 **Author's note: Hey, it worked last time!**


End file.
